Revenge Recap ‘Commitment’ – Hey, Chatty Cathy. Zip It.

I know there are Revenge theorists out there who have been speculating that Nolan (Gabriel Mann) and Emily (Emily VanCamp) are siblings, while others want there to be hints of romance between the two. I don’t think either is true, but I do love the fraternal relationship they have, and increasingly so in this week’s episode, “Commitment”.

Revenge Recap ‘Commitment’

Emily shares with Nolan the video she found of her father, David (James Tupper) telling author Mason Treadwell (last week’s guest star Roger Bart) in his prison interview that he believes Victoria’s daughter is his. But, as we would all like to know, she has her suspicions as to why David would tell a stranger like Treadwell and never mention this in his journals to her. I hope we will have an answer to this in episodes to come.

Emily is after a buy-one-get-one-free deal in her plans for revenge. After showing off her pyromaniac tendencies in “Infamy”, she tells Nolan she will frame Amanda (Margarita Levieva) for burning down Treadwell’s house by planting the stolen video tapes in the apartment she now shares with Jack (Nick Wechsler) and then sending a copy of the incriminating evidence to Conrad (Henry Czerny) to take down Victoria (Madeleine Stowe) in their divorce proceedings. Nolan reminds her there may be collateral damage in the form of Jack, who is in love with Amanda, and Daniel (Josh Bowman) who is in love with her, not to mention the repercussions on Charlotte (Christa B. Allen) should she prove to be her half-sister.

Speaking of divorce proceedings, the Graysons are probably wasting their money on their lawyers – they seem to be doing a perfectly good job of ripping each other apart without legal help. Daniel continues his commitment to help his mother get all she deserves by betraying his father. Turns out Grayson Global is under investigation by the SEC – that’s the Securities and Exchange Commission in case you didn’t know – for suspicious trading practices. I wonder if having a gun-wielding psychotic madman, Tyler Barrol (Ashton Holmes) to bring in clients by sleeping with them might be one of dodgy practices?

Against the bitterness of bad romance between Conrad and Victoria, we see the love between Jack and Amanda continues to grow. We know Jack believes Amanda is the girl he had been in love with since childhood but he seems to genuinely care for this version of Amanda. And of course, this Amanda is in love with the fact that she has a friend at all, regardless of who he thinks she is. So we know they’re set up for a big world of hurt when things start to go wrong. Emily warns Amanda that Victoria may be out to frame her for torching Treadwell’s house and tells her to leave town. But we all know Amanda doesn’t scare easily.

Even without Emily’s help, Victoria has always been suspicious of the girl who claims to be Amanda Clarke. And with Conrad now demanding a paternity test to prove that Charlotte is not his daughter, Victoria invites Amanda for some afternoon tea in an attempt to expose her as a fraud and to get a sample of her DNA. Apparently the “real Amanda” had an allergy to strawberries as a child, so what better way to prove she is fake than to serve her some fresh strawberries, plucked straight from her own garden?

If Queen Victoria thought she could bully Amanda she has another think coming. Not only did Amanda not back down, but she gave one back: “I don’t take orders from you.” If you’re worried that Amanda’s DNA sample isn’t going to match Charlotte’s to prove who she is, don’t worry. Thanks to some careful manipulation from legal eagle Ryan Huntley (James McCafferty), Victoria now has medical proof that her daughter has a half-sister.

As tough as Amanda is, she is a little rattled by her encounter with Victoria. She starts telling Jack about being accused of setting fire to Treadwell’s house, but is interrupted by Nolan, who is spending a lot of time at the Stowaway, telling “Chatty Cathy” that she should zip it and keep Jack out of this complex web of deceit.

Meanwhile, Ashley (Ashley Medekwe) is making herself useful being Victoria’s messenger. She pays Daniel a visit at the pool house to tell him Conrad’s lawyer wants to see him and finds him looking at the engagement ring he has bought for Emily. Needless to say, she is jealous. As she later tells Nolan, she spent her summer spurning her best friend (Emily) in favor of kissing up to what is now turning out to be sinking ship “SS Queen Victoria”.

And while she’s loitering around Grayson Manor, she accidentally overhears Conrad threatening to expose Victoria’s affair with David Clarke and that Charlotte’s father is the most hated man in America. I hope Ashley will be smart enough to do some blackmailing of her own down the line – this is pretty juicy information to have when it comes to the Graysons.

Now, for weeks, I have complained about how poor Charlotte has had so little to do other than act like the spoiled brat you would expect her to be. Thankfully, with the new revelations of who her father really is, I can finally start seeing her as a vehicle to bring out the heart in the supposedly-heartless Graysons. Just before Conrad finds out that Charlotte is not his biological daughter, he is talked into paying tuition for Declan (Connor Paolo) so that he can go to the same fancy prep school that she does. And now that he knows she is not his daughter, he reluctantly kicks her out to send her back to her mother’s but refuses to be the one to tell her the reason.

Despite his parents’ marriage breaking down, Daniel is more determined than ever to propose to Emily. Armed with a humungus (yes, it is big) box-cut diamond ring, Daniel blind-folds Emily and takes her back to the spot where they first met – on the family yacht. He tells her that she sees the true him and makes him feel “safe and loved” (if only he knew the truth about how dangerous Emily can truly be), then gets down on bended knee and proposes amidst a sudden downpour. I am not sure how often this happens in the Hamptons, but that aside, rain-soaked marriage proposals are rather romantic when it happens on a yacht. A breathless Emily, of course, says yes.

The lovebirds rush home happily to tell Mommy Dearest the good news. Suffice to say Victoria is not happy with this news and reminds the happy couple that “romance is never perfect”. How sad Victoria’s life must be. I am sure that in her younger days she was not so uptight, bitter and sad. I would love to see a flashback episode where we get to see Victoria in her earlier days when she was in love – with David or with Conrad, I don’t care which – because I am very curious to see what set her on the path of being so nasty.

On a similar note, when Daniel tells his father that Emily accepted his proposal, a bitter Conrad bitingly asks if Emily knows that her marriage to Daniel would activate his trust so that he will own a chunk of the family business. Surely, Daniel reminds his father, you remember what it was like to be in love? Yes, Conrad admits to having fallen head over heels for Victoria when they met at an art gallery, but sooner or later, they will cheat on each other and “keep a secret so big as to destroy your whole family.”

Daniel confronts a tearful Victoria about this secret that Conrad is talking about. She confesses that Charlotte’s father is David Clarke. But rather than confessing to having had an affair with him, she implies that he raped her. Oh that bitch!

As if that is not enough to show just how manipulative she can be, Victoria hires a thug to break into the apartment that Jack and Amanda share above the Stowaway Tavern to steal back the prison interview video tapes hidden under their bed (planted by Emily). Unfortunately for Jack’s face, it got in the way of the burglary in progress and he got a royal beating, thankfully interrupted by the appearance of Amanda and Nolan.

A very angry Nolan pounds on Emily’s door and asks: “How much collateral damage are you willing to accept? I may have Jack’s blood on my jacket but you’ve got it all over your hands” before storming off. A concerned Emily meets with Huntley. Another flashback reveals that Huntley had not proceeded with David’s appeal at his request to save her from being exposed to the dangerous Graysons. For what it’s worth, Huntley believed David was innocent.

After the latest dangerous encounter, Amanda confronts Emily about the secrets she has been keeping. Emily finally tells Amanda the whole truth and tells her she needs to save herself and leave. Having genuine feelings for Jack, Amanda is reluctant to leave but consents to doing so, complete with new cell phone and IDs thanks to Emily. Poor Jack. And by the way, in case you missed it, Victoria’s burglar managed to leave behind a video tape under Jack’s bed. I wonder what will happen when he finds it and what more secrets are on that tape?

Charlotte has her own moment of confusion when she goes to Emily’s house looking for her brother. When she sees the giant rock on Emily’s finger, she realizes that her brother is engaged. A happy Charlotte hugs Emily and tells her she has always wanted a sister – if only she knew just how true those words are in light of their biological connection!

Recognizing the unexpected fallout from her revenge plans, just as Nolan warned, Emily tells Nolan that marrying the son of her enemy may not be the best way to take the Graysons down. In a fun and fraternal moment, Nolan attempts to put his arm around Emily, and with a smile, says “Baby steps,” to which Emily replies, “Don’t do that again.” Aw, they do care about each other.

But before you can start feeling bad for Daniel of an impending heartbreak, Emily finds out Victoria has told Daniel that Charlotte was the result of being raped by David Clarke. More determined than ever to follow her revenge plans, Emily proposes a June wedding, making Daniel the happiest man on earth. Before the wedding comes the engagement party and we will see that in episode 15, which will bring us full circle to the very first episode. But we must be patient – that is still two weeks away.

In the meantime…is it Wednesday yet?

Written by Valerie Leung. Read her blog Libra Girl Rules and follow her on twitter to talk about great TV-  @ValShopaholic

Read more of Valerie’s REVENGE RECAPS on Small Screen Scoop! Why don’t you start with her smartly written Revenge “Infamy” Recap?